Press ads - (few) retailers roll out tactical ads
Amid all the spreads and souvenir pullouts this morning, there was only a handful of major display ads that included a nod to the royal child - despite the announcement coming early on in the day yesterday morning.
Lidl chose to promote its 89p wipes...
...Amazon chose to promote its baby surveillance service....
...John Lewis showed off a rather nice pram....
...and Morrisons pushed some on-offer booze.
'Queen' turns up in experiential stunt
Perhaps the most bizarre brand activation to come out of yesterday's news was . The life-like faux monarch certainly would have fooled an onlooker or two.
Social media
In what must surely be a recognition that few people have the requisite time or proximity to look at the top of its tower for major news announcements, BT tweeted a picture of its announcement:
It's a boy! The BT Tower in London has been lit up to celebrate the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's third child.
— BT (@bt_uk)
Meanwhile, drink brand Innocent put forth some not-so innocent baby name suggestions:
— innocent drinks (@innocent)Some names that work well with George:
Michael
Lucas
Harrison
Of The Jungle
By Asda
On the subject of names, E4 is confident that the star character of hit show The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon, will become even more of a cultural influence....
We've stuck a tenner on the being called Sheldon.
— E4 (@E4Tweets)
Special commendation for opportunism
While a royal birth is an unmissable opportunity for many a brand to flog its wares, we were particularly impressed by the word association of Worktop Express.
Are you struggling to choose the name, ? How about Ash... which just so happens to be the solid wood chopping board you can this ? RT and follow to enter today's - good luck!
— Worktop Express (@worktopexpress)
Baby boom
Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have had other children quite recently.
In 2015, Pizza Hut celebrated middle-child Princess Charlotte's arrival by offering free meals to to women with the same name. But Warburtons stole the show with the best pun - "a Royal toast".
When Kate Middleton announced she was pregnant with a second child in September 2014, Nissan managed to put out a tactical ad within seven minutes.
The 2013 birth of Prince George, the eldest, was considered so momentous that brands were still celebrating his birth a year afterwards. This time the best literal funny went to Ryanair, which proclaimed George as the RyanHeir....
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